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Stained glass at home

The popularity of stained glass has continued to grow for several decades and shows no signs of waning as new enthusiasts install stained glass in their homes.

Stained glass is attractive in many respects, adding leaded design to otherwise empty spaces, blending colored glass to compliment interior decoration and enhance exterior views, while making an elegant testament to the taste and pride the owners take in their home.

Stained glass can be used in a great variety of domestic applications. It has been said that your entrance makes the first, strongest and most lasting impression on visitors, so it makes perfect sense that many doors, sidelights and transoms include stained glass installed that compliments the decorative style of a home.

Feature windows in living rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms are popular as attractions that offer additional privacy and an alternative to difficult to maintain window dressings. Stained glass panels installed as room dividers provide an attractive alternative to solid walls and allow natural light to penetrate to interior spaces, while offering a sense of continuity between rooms.

Stained glass cabinet panels are one of the most popular choices for home interior decorators, as these panels are a great way of introducing or continuing a design motif in kitchens and hutches. The panels can be clear or transparent to show off the cabinet's contents, or can be opaque to hide clutter.

Stained glass lighting fixtures are a particularly effective way of decorating, as the illuminated stained glass becomes a feature in any living space and allows the homeowner to "paint" with colored light.

Most popular home improvement and retail outlets provide stained glass choices in door designs and lighting fixtures. For the truly discerning home owner, the path to greatest satisfaction leads to a local stained glass studio's threshold. Custom commissioned stained glass is available at reasonable prices and can be true works of art that reflect the owner's tastes in a lasting fashion.

Personal choices of design, colors, and function can be beautifully interpreted in stained glass to exactly suit any individual's sense of style. For the genuinely adventurous, stained glass classes may be just the ticket to hours of satisfying fulfillment of any homeowners dream.

Whether an interior designer or do-it-yourselfer, everyone can enjoy the delightful vision of stimulating stained glass.

For more information, contact Nel Bernard of Maine Art Glass Studio in Lisbon Falls, or his business partner, Jim Nutting. MAGS serves the greater central Maine area, and offers custom stained glass design and production, as well as classes in stained glass techniques. Visit the Sanctuary Gallery to see a showcase of their work.

Worldwide glass-substrate capacity is expected to continue to grow more than 40% each quarter through 2005, as a result of capacity expansion by existing glass-substrate suppliers and new companies joining the market, according to DisplaySearch.